"Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" - Review

A storm is brewing. Bee (Maria Bakalova) is being taken by her girlfriend Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) to meet the latter's friends. They're having a "hurricane party" at the luxurious home of the ridiculously wealthy David (Pete Davidson), where Sophie can introduce Bee to her friends and catch up with people she's not seen since she went to rehab. They consist of the aforementioned David, a cocky amusing rich kid; the bitchy and passive aggressive leader Jordan (Myha'la Herrold), whose boyfriend Max is on the way and previously punched David in the eye; David's girlfriend Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), an upbeat actor; the shallow but nice podcaster Alice (Rachel Sennott), who seems genuinely happy to see Sophie again; and her mysterious cool older vet boyfriend Greg (Lee Pace). The gang's clearly got some unresolved issues with each other, particularly Sophie, and this starts to come to a head when they play "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies", all the while the storm approaches from outside and brews anew inside. Bee finds herself trapped in the middle of this evening as it gradually unfolds into a nightmare.

The trailer puts a certain vibe out there, and in the hands of a less-talented cast, director, writer and more, you can vividly imagine the cringe-inducing January horror movie of shallow, pettiness and lukewarm satire.
Instead, we get an excruciating social-anxiety inducing build up of these characters in a hellish setting, as Bee is forced to watch and endure and avoid things like the passive-aggressive Jordan, the obnoxious David, and even a few secrets Sophie has of her own.
Then when it kicks off, it remains a hilarious, slick, incredibly funny murder mystery, as the myriad of gossip, dirty secrets, well-seeded character arcs and brutal inter-personal fights come together in a meeting of mayhem and blood. There is a truly standout scene in a gym, akin to the lighthouse sequence in "Battle Royale", and the switching, subversion and development of the gang work in the film's favour and give it a much-needed edge and bite. A lot of hay will be made about lines in the trailer like "you trigger me" and "you're so toxic!" but in context the lines are excellent, they're given prominence in the trailer specifically to get some sort of reaction and rise. The characters are well-written, and performed even better
A stirling sophomore effort, funny and slick.
The ending is pure genius.